"A couple of the injuries that we were concerned about are not going to be significant," he said.

But the one player he was waiting to hear back about was defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson, who suffered a hip injury.

That news was decidedly less positive, as the Broncos placed the veteran on injured reserve Wednesday. He becomes the eighth player on the Broncos' injured reserve list -- though safety Rahim Moore has a designation for return.

To fill his spot on the roster, the team added defensive tackle Sione Fua, who will wear No. 98.

Fua played in 13 games with one start for the Carolina Panthers in 2012. The 2011 third-round pick started 11 games in his rookie campaign and totaled 32 tackles and a forced fumble in those two seasons.

The Stanford product has played in three games this year.

This season, Vickerson had started all 11 games, notching 22 tackles, a pass defensed and a sack of Tom Brady last Sunday before suffering his hip injury.

The eighth-year defensive tackle set career highs in games played and starts in 2012, helping anchor a line that allowed the second-fewest rushing yards per game in the league.

That leaves Terrance Knighton, Mitch Unrein and 2013 first-round pick Sylvester Williams as the tackles on Denver's roster who have played in a regular-season game in 2013. Knighton has started all 11 and Unrein has played in all 11.

Williams, who has played in eight games, saw more than 40 percent of the team's defensive snaps against New England -- his highest ratio of the season.